Author:Ryan Hale

Pride is one of the most powerful forces in the world. When we come into conflict with one another, pride becomes quickly noticeable within ourselves, even when we don’t want to admit it. We feel that we are justified in our actions, and even if we are having a difficult time coming up with good reasons […]

As someone from the Midwestern part of the United States, this command at first seems counterintuitive to me. One of the things that I think Americans generally, and Midwesterners in particular, deem offensive is someone who is a boasts about themselves, who not only does good things, but then goes on to tell other people […]

The commands of Jesus have a way of reverberating through the centuries, even those that he gave to some fishermen as he was walking along the seashore. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Given other things that Jesus told his disciples to do, including making other […]

Today is our 21st wedding anniversary! This last year has been filled with some amazing joys and some significant challenges for us. I think we would both say that it has, at times, put our resolve for our marriage to the test, but we’re still standing. Somewhat jokingly, we said last night that survival can sometimes […]

At the end of his time on earth, Jesus told the eleven disciples who were left that they were to make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that he has commanded. So that creates a question…what did Jesus command? What was his […]

Recently, a friend of mine decided that he wanted to follow Jesus, but he had a serious roadblock arise in that his only remaining family member, who happened to be the person who raised him since he was a small boy, told him that if he were to decide to follow through with his plans […]

It is time for me to begin to put together an outline for my talk in the next 10 days. Of course, this will be subject to change, but here are some of my ideas about what I want to say: Reading of the story of the birth of Jesus – Luke 2:1-20 God has […]

Many years before God began His judgement of His people, Moses warned the Israelites that they must follow God or He will judge them. He told the people: You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number, because you did not obey the Lord your God. […]

What’s in a name? Shakespeare, speaking through Juliet in the play Romeo and Juliet, suggests that there is nothing in a name. And maybe, if you are speaking of a rose as Juliet was, you could call that flower by many other names and it would still smell as sweet as if you were calling […]

This year, our Italian church asked me to speak at their Christmas service. I find it a little interesting given that I have never considered myself to be much of a preacher. In fact, I have only delivered two sermons in my life, certainly preferring a smaller group teaching situation. But in any case, I’m […]